Tiger kills 2 women in Nepal

Authorities in Nepal have launched a hunt for a man-eating tiger that killed two women in a month and a half in areas near the country’s largest national park, officials said on Friday.

A team of 20 officials, including forest rangers and veterinarians, along with six elephants have been deployed in the dense forest of Chitwan National Park in south-central Nepal, Nurendra Aryal, the protected area’s official, told dpa.

“We received a letter from the district forest office of Nawalparasi, which requested us to capture the animal after it killed two women in the area,’’ Aryal said.

In mid-February, the tiger killed a 60-year-old woman, who was in the forest collecting fodder for her livestock.

Last week, the tiger pounced upon a 61-year-old woman in the same area, where she was also gathering fodder.

Aryal said the team hadn’t been able to capture the big cat despite placing two calves in its habitat as prey; the animal has also killed dozens of livestock in the area.

Human-wild animal conflict has significantly increased in recent years in Nepal, home to 200 endangered Royal Bengal tigers.

In early February, police shot dead a wild tiger after it injured nine people, including four policemen, near a national park in south-western Nepal. (dpa/NAN)